James 4:10 says, Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up. And Proverbs 21:1 complements this scripture by adding, The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it withersoever He will.
I don’t know about you, but I take great delight in these scriptures. For they reassure me that my heavenly Father’s got me covered.
In other words, if I’m in a situation where I’m being dealt with unfairly or unjustly by someone else in authority (like a mean supervisor, an unjust judge in the judicial system or any other example that comes to mind), my Father, God, steps in and gives me favor with the very one (in authority) who’s intention was to put me down.
What the Lord wants you to know, child of God, is if you’ve been believing Him for a promotion on your job, do a reassessment of your own character. Make certain that there isn’t anything in you, such as a bitter heart — a heart of unforgiveness or strife — that would hinder God’s move in your life regarding the area of promotion.
So, you seek to be promoted on the job? You desire to be a supervisor, someone in upper management? Are you a good follower? In other words, can your supervisor depend on you? When your supervisor makes a move that you don’t particularly agree with, how do you respond to that move?
The way you answer these questions is a reflection of what’s in your heart? That’s what the Lord, Himself, is looking at. When God has examined your heart and found Himself reflected in it, no one can deny you that promotion.
One of the hardest things to get some inmates in prison to understand is this very principle. While many seek to be paroled before their full sentence is served, they fail to understand that the hearts of the parole board members are in the hand of the Lord.
And it is He, the Lord, who turns their hearts whichever way He so pleases. With that being the case, I wonder what would happen, parole candidate, if you started taking full responsibility for your actions that led you to be incarcerated, instead of looking for fault in the parole board, the judge, your lawyer, your mama, your daddy, your wife, your husband, your brother, your sister?
You know what would happen? You would please the Lord. He will see maturity in your spirit, a remorseful heart, and then He’d move on the parole board members to release you (Proverbs 3:1-7).
Again, this principle of humility, when worked in any area of your life, produces in your life favor with God and with man.
I pray that this column has blessed you today.The Rev. Donald Lee can be contacted at pastordonjlee@yahoo.com or 225/773-2248.